Weight Lifting Techniques and Training Tips

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Practicing proper weight lifting techniques is absolutely essential for getting the most out of your efforts. The following weight lifting techniques and tips will help maximize your body’s production of lean muscle mass and also reduce the risk of injury.

All too often I see people in the gym doing different things that they believe will give them the exercise they need when really they are just putting themselves at a increased risk for some type of injury.

Stretch Out

It is important to stretch out your muscles before you do any type of physical activity. You can prevent most injuries in the gym by just spending a couple minutes stretching. In addition to preventing injury you also increase the blood and nutrient supply to your muscles. This nutrient supply will help minimize soreness after a workout.

Everyday before I workout I like to give myself 5-10 minutes just to get the blood pumping by stretching out my body. Concentrate on the muscle groups you will be working out but also don’t neglect the others. Each stretch should be preformed slowly and with control. Hold each stretch at a point of tightness for 20-60 seconds. I would also recommend stepping on the treadmill for 3-5 minutes at a low speed to help prepare you for the upcoming workout.

Many people think that stretching doesn’t apply to them, for whatever reason. All I can say is your body will thank you. You will most likely see improved gains and also better recovery by just spending a couple of minutes warming up.

Begin With Low Weight

When you are first learning any new exercise it is important to not sacrifice proper form for heavier weights. Novice weight trainers make the mistake of sacrificing form so they can pile on the weight to impress those around them.

Don’t do this, you will only hurt yourself. Instead concentrate on perfecting form with slow controlled movements while using a lower weight. After you feel comfortable with the exercise only then should you start piling on the weight.

If you want to make sure you are performing your exercises correctly check out our great Bodybuilding Exercises section full of instructional videos.

Change Up Your Routine

The next weight lifting techniques is easily forgotten. Many people forget how important it is to switch up your workout routine periodically. The reason this is important is because your body will eventually stop growing. Your body has an amazing ability to repair itself from increased resistance by building muscle. However, eventually your body will get used to the same resistance and stop building muscle to cope with it. This is commonly referred to as a plateau.

To prevent plateau I would recommend switching up your workouts every 4-6 weeks. Switching up the exercises I do also keeps me motivated because I am not getting sick of the same motions. I would also urge you to switch up the amount of reps and sets your perform. For example, if you usually do 3 sets of 8 reps, switch it up and try 4 sets of 5 reps, or even 3 sets of 12 reps. Just don’t stick to the same thing because eventually your body will catch up and stop growing.

If you need some help building a workout routine check out our Bodybuilding Routines. You can find a huge variety of workout routines for all types of athletes and fitness goals.

Remember to Breathe

I think one of the most important weight lifting techniques to learn is proper breathing. If you don’t learn to properly breathe while you are performing exercises you can assure yourself you aren’t getting the most out of your workouts.

If you don’t breathe during an exercise you will start to feel run down and probably light headed. Your muscles need oxygen to perform at their top level so you need to feed them air when they need it. To do this, breathe in while you are relaxing your muscles and breathe out while you are flexing them.

To illustrate this picture your self doing a bicep curl. On the way up you should be exhaling, this prevents you from getting light headed. Then on the way down you should be inhaling to give your muscles the much needed oxygen for the next rep. It is much easier to breathe properly when you are performing your exercises with slow controlled movements like I mentioned earlier.

Don’t Neglect Muscles

Many times people develop a “favorite muscle” when it comes to strength training. Although it is great to love training your favorite muscle, it is important to not neglect the ones you don’t. This is because your body needs to grow as a whole and not individually. For example, you can’t expect to squat 400 lbs. if you never train your abdominal muscles. Your body simply cannot balance the weight properly. This is the same for any other muscle group in your body.

Make it a priority to train the muscles you normally neglect. If you tend to neglect your shoulders, try training them in the beginning of the week when you are full of energy and motivation from the weekend break. The reason I say this is because it is easy to skip the last workout of the week when the muscle you are training is one you don’t really like anyway.

Large Muscles First

I have found one of the best weight lifting techniques is to train my largest muscles first during my workouts. I do this because I want to reserve the majority of my energy for my larger, more demanding muscles. To further illustrate this, imagine you workout your chest and triceps in the same day. You wouldn’t train your triceps first, because with them exhausted it becomes increasingly difficult to workout your chest muscles..

I hope these weight lifting techniques really help you build the body you have always wanted! I hope to add more weight lifting techniques in time so check back soon because you can never learn too many techniques and tips!

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